Nokia and Oracle have announced the extension of their long-standing alliance to implement push e-mail capability for OracleŽ Collaboration Suite on the Nokia 9500 Communicator and Nokia 9300 enterprise smartphone as well as other Nokia messaging devices. The push e-mail solution, designed by Oracle and Consilient will be the first based on the emerging Push-IMAP standard, and is expected to be available during first quarter 2005.

Consilient develops client-server software for push e-mail and calendar on mobile devices and phones. Consilient's Mobility Server is based on PIMAP and SyncML open standards, providing real-time connectivity between e-mail systems and mobile devices.

The ongoing collaboration between Oracle and Nokia has successfully produced mobile solutions for enterprise voicemail, e-mail, calendaring, directory services, file management and search capabilities for Nokia's family of business devices. The solutions have provided mobile professionals with a one-stop source for integrated communications across multiple mobile devices and platforms.

"Oracle and Nokia have made significant progress since the start of our joint development effort two years ago," said Jacob Christfort, Vice President and CTO for mobile, wireless and voice technology at Oracle Corporation. "This announcement reflects the latest progress in standardizing push e-mail and making it available on Nokia's market leading handsets. By eliminating the need for proprietary e-mail middleware, clients and transport management, push e-mail for the first time moves beyond niche devices."

"Mobile e-mail is the critical first step to mobilizing the entire enterprise workforce," said Niklas Savander, senior vice president of Nokia's enterprise device unit. "Our relationship with Oracle and Consilient in bringing push e-mail to Nokia's latest generation of business-optimized devices will allow us to offer enterprises of all sizes the rich functionality and full benefits of Oracle's Collaboration Suite."

"Consilient is positioned to lead the implementation and adoption of PIMAP and SyncML, the first open standards for e-mail connectivity on mobile devices", said Trevor Adey, Consilient president.

"First generation players launched products based on closed, proprietary technology. With Nokia leading the mobile phone market, Consilient and Oracle are leveraging the PIMAP standard to completely alter the landscape for push e-mail technology working directly with Nokia", Adey added.